"Queen 2" C/D

Queen, Queen, Queen... Hmmm... Oh, they did that 'Gallileo' song, right?

Generally, when I think of Queen, I'm thinking of "Queen II" --and I have all of their records up to "The Game," so yeah, I guess I think "Queen II" pretty hot. I personally like it better than Night at the Opera, but that may be because I completely burned myself out on Night at the Opera when I was in high school (long, long ago).

I reckon Sheer Heart Attack is the most underrated. Brighton rock, Tenement Funster, Flick Of The Wrist, Lap Of The Gods. Shit, think I'll listen to it right now.

Well, Hot Space is probably the most underrated really: it's generally loathed, when in fact it's not that bad.

I've never quite got my head around Queen 2 though, despite having tried many times since the age of about 7. I think it maybe lacks hooks. I'll give it another go today, but for now I definitely prefer Queen 1 and Sheer Heart Attack.

Ah! The thread I've been waiting for. I way prefer it to Sheer Heart Attack, which is a little too "OK we've indulged ourselves, now let's make a pop record" (though Misfire is fantastic), and while it doesn't quite have the wilful "now-what-can-we-do?" waywardness of A Night At The Opera, it's certainly as accomplished a record. "Funny How Love Is" and "Some Day One Day" are totally forgotten in the Queen canon, yet they're better than anything they recorded post-1976. Some of the faerie-ring imagery does my head in a little nowadays (though it sounded perfectly reasonable in the 70s), but even so Queen II is a classic, no argument.

Surrender to the city of the fireflies.

Ok, just listened to it. And yeah, I think I'm right about hooks...there's not a single memorable chorus on there. This must be at least the 30th time I've heard the album, and even now, right after it's finished, there's nothing I could sing to you from it besides Seven Seas. This isn't a problem in itself (there's certainly some Genesis albums I could say the same thing about, but which I love anyway), but it's just not what I'd expect, from Queen.

I think the Genesis comparison makes some sense though. This is basically a bog standard early 70s prog album, and I think it's the only one they ever made (I'd say all the other Queen albums, even Night at the Opera, are essentially pop-rock). I just don't think it's good enough though. Sonically it's all a bit too similar (the production doesn't help, it's unusually gloopy for a Queen album. The EQ seems especially strange, there's muddy low mids, and annoyingly fizzy highs, and it's all slightly wearying). Lyrically it's cute but disjointed. And yeah, the hooks...even if you're going to dispense with verse-chorus structures, you still need riffs or melodies or something, and I'm just not really hearing them in here.

"Ogre Battle" is my single favourite Queen track, but i'm not generally a huge fan (1st 4 LPs = only ones i've heard in full/own.)

they made nine amazing albums in a row (if you count flash gordon), and i love queen 2, but i think it's probably the least essential of the first nine. meaning, if i told someone to buy a queen album i would tell them to buy flash, game, jazz, news, night,day, sheer, or the debut before i told them to buy two. weird, huh?

so, no, i don't think it's underrated. i think people just listen to the other stuff more cuz they are better. sheer heart attack is almost perfect from beginning to end. and, yeah, like someone said, despite the cool metal titles and lyrics (and always awesome guitars), there is less that sticks with you on two. and these are people who could write serious hooks. monster hooks.

This was my Official Favourite Album at age 12 - in fact, it was the first I album I ever obsessed over, particularly the Mercury-penned Side 2 (which I agree works as a continuous suite of music), and particularly "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke"/"Nevermore", which I played over and over and over again.

Sheer Heart Attack came as a big disappointment, as I felt they'd retreated from the slightly fey art/glam/prog whimsy which enthralled me, into straightforward hard rock. A Night At The Opera thus felt like a step back in the right direction...

Dud

This and Sheer Heart Attack = my fave Queen